Iron Chef Chamorro Challenge-2011

Please pardon my construction of this blog, have fun and visit again for the recipes.

The display of the secret ingredients and other enhancing agents:

"This is how we Iron Chef-ed"

Ok-before you all say "What? SPAM, you gotta be kidding!!!!", let me give you a little history of the recipes created exclusively for this event. My husband and I decided we wanted to hold a friendly challenge of creating amateur culinary dishes and have judges decide "Who's cuisine reined SUPREME-so hence our very own version of Iron Chef Chamorro and the secret ingredient of SPAM!!!! Yes, that was intentionally a run-on sentence to create a dramatic flare. In this corner-Reed "The Real Deal' Sasamoto vs. Michelle "Bow Down" Sasamoto!!!! Who will win bragging rights and who will be ragged on for a long time?

We agreed on the secret ingredient 2 days before the challenge, brain-stormed on several ideas, invited friends and family to taste and judge and shopped for our own ingredients. Nerves were shaken and self-doubts surfaced for both of us. It's funny how we cook on a daily bases but we agreed that this challenge felt different...OK, breathe in and out. That's me calming the nerves-well for one, cause I like competition and 2 I don't like losing. Hahaha!

The best part was the excitement of our 10 year old daughter who engaged in this event as well. She delegated herself as the Chairman/Narrator and took off from there. She even made the judges scoring sheets. How cute is that? My baby is loving the culinary world as well and I am so happy.

So hours before the challenge, my husband and I prepped some ingredients because we did not have the luxury of a huge Kitchen Stadium or Sous Chefs, this made things a little less hectic in our kitchen. Thank God he had that brilliant idea of pre-prepping. Then the battle began and before we knew it an hour and 30 minutes flew right before our eyes at lightning speed. The battle was Oh-Va!!!

The three categories included appetizer, entree and dessert. I made a foursome appetizer plate which showcased Asian inspired finger foods, SPAM-Chicken Cordon Bleu with Bacon SPAM Garlic Mash Potatoes and chocolate dipped SPAM with vanilla basil soft serve ice cream. Reed managed to complete 2 dishes, I think they were both in the entree category-Hawaiian style fried rice and mushroom/asparagus stir fry. After the dishes were plated it made it's way to the judges table.

The moment of TRUTH: The judging categories were based on originality, creativity, plating and taste. Each category was scored by each judge for up to 10 points each. The judges ate, scored and tallied their points to determine "who's cuisine reigns supreme". And the 1st Iron Chef Chamorro Challenge winner is--------------------------------drum roll please. tadadadadadadadadadadadada------------------------------Iron Chef Michelle "Bow Down" Sasamoto!!!! And the crowd goes wild. Nothing but love and fun in our Sasamoto Kitchen Stadium.

Roll Up Spinach Tofu Lasagna

Lasagna Roll Ups

When I saw this food post on my friend Louise's Facebook page, I was amazed. I wondered how such a classic dish could look so beautiful and exquisite. So I ventured off to make my version but only after I asked her for some tips and Googled lasagna roll-ups. I came across a video and for the life of me, can't remember the name of the person demonstrating it. I watched and thought I could follow this and use any ingredient I wanted. It was the easiest thing I ever made and it was a family winner. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

10 Lasagna noodles (boiled)

1 16 0z. Spaghetti sauce

4 cups fresh Spinach

1 package firm tofu

2 Chicken breast

1 pack Shredded mozzarella cheese

1 table spoon Italian Seasoning

Salt to taste

Black Pepper to taste

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use 1 cup of spaghetti sauce and spread on bottom of 9x13 baking pan (set aside).
• cut chicken breasts into small cubes and brown on stove top-when chicken is cooked, add spinach and cooked just until it wilts, add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside
• In large mixing bowl, mash tofu with potato masher or fork, add chicken and spinach mixture then mix in all seasonings, taste for flavor
• Place cooked lasagna noodle on platter, use table spoon to scoop and fill lasagna noodle thoroughly. Put filling on top of spread out noodle.
• Roll lasagna noodle with filling nice and tight
• Place on baking pan with seam down
• smother top of noodle with extra spaghetti sauce
• Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on top
• bake for 30 minutes, serve warm with spinach apple and orange salad.
• Reserve extra sauce and cheese as condiments.
• See picture below.

Spinach, apple and orange salad.

A summery wonderful compliment to the lasagna roll ups.

Ingredients:

4 cups Fresh Spinach

1 granny smith apple

1 orange

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Asian soy dressing or vinaigrette

Layer all ingredients and drizzle with dressing.

Serve with lasagna roll ups

The plated product. Isn't it beautiful eye candy?

That was a dinner well served:)